


On Christopher Street

by poisonivory



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Green Arrow (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Crushes, Jason Todd is Robin, M/M, Pre-Slash, Pride Parades
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:28:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24952330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisonivory/pseuds/poisonivory
Summary: It's Pride Weekend in New York City and Roy and Donna are headed to the parade. Jason, visiting Titans Tower for the weekend, tags along, and starts to wonder about a few things.
Relationships: Donna Troy & Jason Todd, Roy Harper & Donna Troy, Roy Harper & Jason Todd, Roy Harper/Jason Todd
Comments: 14
Kudos: 168





	On Christopher Street

**Author's Note:**

> Written for JayRoy Weekend 2020, for the prompt "pride."
> 
> This is set vaguely in the New Teen Titans era but isn't particularly canon compliant. I tagged it as Underage since Jason's only 15, but nothing actually happens except a crush. (Or several. It's possible Baby Jason has a crush on all of his brother's friends.)
> 
> Thank you to [queenitsy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenitsy/pseuds/queenitsy) for the beta!

“Hello?” Jason called, walking into the rec room at Titans Tower. It was empty. So was the kitchen, the conference room, the training center, and the pool.

Huh. So much for a fun weekend visit with the Titans.

He was walking back to the guest room he’d been given—not _dejectedly_ , he didn’t _care_ , but...in a less-than-upbeat fashion—when he heard voices down the hall. He followed the sound and found Wonder Girl’s door half-open and laughter coming out of it.

“Hello?” he called again, peeking around the open door.

Wonder Girl and Speedy were sitting on her bed, laughing, and—was she putting _eyeliner_ on him? They both looked over at the sound of his voice.

“Hey, kid!” Speedy said. “Whatcha doing?”

Jason tried not to bristle visibly. He wasn’t a little kid, he was _fifteen_ , and he was pretty sure Speedy and Wonder Girl were Dick’s age, which made them just three years older than him. But for some reason they all called him “kiddo” or “kid” or even “sport,” which, _ugh_. Even Changeling, and he was only sixteen! The next time he ruffled Jason’s hair, Jason was gonna deck him, Titan or not.

“Nothing,” Jason said. “Just wondering where everyone is. I don’t think there’s anyone else in the Tower.”

Wonder Girl frowned. “Really? Where’s Dick?”

“He went somewhere with Starfire. A date or something. I don’t know.” Jason crossed his arms and tried to look like he didn’t care.

Which he _didn’t_. Dick could do whatever he wanted. Jason had accepted the invitation to the Tower to hang out with the Teen Titans, not necessarily Dick in particular. So whatever.

Speedy and Wonder Girl exchanged a glance, so apparently it only took turning eighteen to start giving each other those obnoxious pitying grownup looks. Jason braced himself. If Wonder Girl sighed and started her next sentence by calling him “sweetheart,” he was commandeering the Batplane in the hanger and flying himself home to Gotham.

“Vic and Gar are visiting Vic’s grandparents,” she said instead. “I think Joey’s doing something with his mom. No clue where Raven is.”

“As usual,” Speedy added.

Wonder Girl smiled at Jason. “You wanna come with us?”

Jason shrugged one shoulder. “Dunno. Where are you going?”

“Pride!” she said.

“What’s...oh, that big parade downtown?” Jason had seen signs for the NYC Pride Parade everywhere when Dick had taken him across the river for dinner last night. Then the penny dropped. “Wait, you guys are gay?”

“Nah, we’re both bi,” Speedy said. “Uh, bisexual. That’s means—”

“I _know_ what it means,” Jason interrupted. And could have figured it out if he didn’t. He wasn’t an idiot.

“Right, sorry,” Speedy said. “But you don’t have to be gay or bi or whatever to go to the parade. Straight allies are welcome too. So you wanna come? It’s a lot of fun.”

Since his only other option seemed to be sitting in the Tower by himself, it wasn’t a hard choice. Still… “You don’t mind?”

“Of course not!” Wonder Girl said.

“But you’re going to have to wait until Donna finishes making me even more unbearably gorgeous than I already am,” Speedy added. Wonder Girl snorted, but went back to running a pencil around the edge of Speedy’s eyelids.

Jason drifted closer. “You’re wearing makeup?”

“Hey, if there’s one day a year we all have carte blanche to be fabulous, it’s Pride,” Speedy said, as Wonder Girl switched from eyeliner to mascara. “And some of us are cursed with fair eyelashes. I need a little help to make these baby blues really pop.”

Wonder Girl sat back on her heels, appraising her work. Jason didn’t know anything about makeup, but Speedy was right—with the makeup darkening his normally red-gold lashes, his eyes were startlingly, arrestingly blue.

“You want to try?” Wonder Girl asked, smiling at Jason.

“Uh, no, I’m good,” he said quickly.

“You’ve got those natural Bambi eyes anyway, you don’t need it,” Speedy said, which made Jason feel oddly...noticed. What were Bambi eyes, anyway? Were they good?

“Okay, Wonder Chick, glitter me,” Speedy said, turning his face back up to her.

She flicked his nose. “What did I say about calling me that?” But she picked up a little pot of something, unscrewed it, and dipped her finger in. When she dragged her finger across Speedy’s cheekbones, it left behind a shimmering, glittery streak like a comet’s tail.

“There you go,” she said, handing him a mirror. “Happy?”

“I’ve never been hotter,” Speedy said very seriously, and Wonder Girl laughed, then took the mirror back to apply the glittery stuff to her own cheeks. “What do you think, Jay, how do we look?”

He sprang to his feet and spread his arms wide. Jason noticed for the first time that he was wearing a tank top tie-dyed in rainbow colors and denim shorts that were, well, really short for a boy. It was hard to tell what was more noticeable: the glitter on his cheeks, the shocking blue of his eyes, or the sharply defined muscles of his bare shoulders and arms.

Wonder Girl knelt up on the bed. Her hair was up in a sweeping ponytail, and she had that glitter on her cheeks and something glossy on her lips that made them hard to look away from. She was wearing one of those things girls wore that was a tank top and shorts all in one; the top was pink, the waist was purple, and the shorts were blue.

“Um,” Jason said. “Gay?”

They both burst out laughing. “Nailed it,” Speedy said, and offered Wonder Girl a fist bump, which she accepted, leaving him shaking his knuckles out with a wince.

“How come you’re not wearing anything rainbow?” Jason asked Wonder Girl.

“Oh, the romper’s the bi flag colors,” Wonder Girl said. _Romper_ , that was it. “And we’ve got a rainbow flag to carry.”

“Donna’s making me wear this shirt,” Speedy said, pouting.

“Not that shirt, _a_ shirt, period. Because you will _burn_ ,” Wonder Girl said.

Speedy plucked at his tank top. “This isn’t staying on, you know.”

She tossed her ponytail. “Then you better hope Jason is willing to rub aloe into your back tonight, because I’m not.”

Jason felt his cheeks growing hot. Luckily, Speedy didn’t seem to notice, picking up his feathered uniform cap and putting it on his head. “You’re wearing that?” Jason asked. “Aren’t you worried about your secret identity?”

“Eh,” Speedy said, shrugging his shoulders. Jason tried to imagine either Bruce or Dick saying “eh” about protecting their secret identity and couldn’t. “It’s not that secret. The government already knows who I am. Besides, let’s be honest, this is the gayest hat I own.”

“Sweetie, it’s the gayest hat _anyone_ owns,” Wonder Girl said.

“Um,” Jason said. “Is this okay? To wear, I mean. I didn’t bring anything more, uh…” He tugged at his shirt, a little self-consciously. It was just a plain red polo shirt, plus khaki shorts and tennis shoes, because that was the kind of stuff Alfred bought for him. He’d mostly gotten used to dressing like someone he might have beaten up in his old life, but now he sort of felt like a huge dork.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Speedy said. “Unless you want to wear your costume. That’d _really_ make a statement.”

“Roy,” Wonder Girl chided gently.

“How about it? Want to piss off ol’ Bats?” Speedy asked, and the way he was grinning at Jason made something lurch in Jason’s stomach, the same way it did when he stepped off a roof and before his grapple line caught up the slack.

“Eh, I do that enough already,” he said, trying for casual, and Speedy guffawed.

“Yes! I _knew_ you were the fun one!” he said, and Jason felt oddly triumphant.

“You look fine, but I can add a little glitter if you want to be flashier,” Wonder Girl offered, holding up the pot.

Jason bit his lip. “Yeah, okay,” he said. It wasn’t like he was going to see anyone he knew, and besides, Speedy was Dick’s friend and like a secret agent for the government or something—Jason wasn’t entirely sure, but it was something cool. If he could wear glitter, Jason could, too.

Wonder Girl held his chin lightly in place with one hand. She was… _really_ pretty, which Jason had noticed before, obviously, but it was especially hard to ignore up close like this. He didn’t want to meet her eyes and knew he’d get himself in trouble if he watched her mouth, so instead he stared at the relatively neutral territory of her forehead, as she used her other hand to smear a line of the glittery stuff along each of his cheekbones. He’d thought it would feel sticky or greasy or something, but it didn’t feel like anything, not really.

“There,” she said, releasing him and handing him the mirror. “It’s like you’ve been kissed by David Bowie himself.”

Jason scrutinized his reflection. He looked like...himself, but with glitter on his cheeks.

He didn’t hate it.

“All right!” Speedy said, clapping a hand to Jason’s shoulder. He didn’t do it hard, but it was clear just from that touch how strong he was, maybe almost as strong as Bruce. “Let’s go!”

Wonder Girl beamed at Jason. “This is gonna be fun!”

*

They took the barge across the river and the subway downtown. Jason didn’t have a Metrocard for the train, so Speedy swiped his a second time to get Jason through the turnstile.

“Thanks, Sp—uh,” Jason said, catching himself. Sure, Speedy was wearing that hat, but that didn’t mean he _wanted_ Jason hollering his codename in a crowded subway station.

“Roy,” Speedy—Roy—said. “And that’s Donna. You can call us that whenever, by the way—you don’t have to wait until we’re in public.”

“Well, not while we’re fighting the Brotherhood of Evil,” Donna said. “But the rest of the time, sure.”

Jason followed them out of the subway and into the bright June sun. The streets were packed with people in bright colors waving signs and flags, cheering and singing and laughing. Dance pop blared from speakers Jason couldn’t see.

“Yes!” Roy crowed, throwing his hands in the air. “Come on!” He grabbed Donna’s hand, and she grabbed Jason’s, and they wove through the milling people towards where the music was loudest.

The crowds along the parade route were five people deep at least and they couldn’t get anywhere close to the barricades, but Jason could still see people walking by—or dancing, or roller skating, or riding motorcycles—and flags waving, and the floats were clearly visible. Everything was a riot of colors and textures and sounds, and for a minute Jason felt overwhelmed and defensive and like he needed to get his back to a wall or a roof under his feet. Batman always said an uncontrolled situation was an unsafe situation.

But this wasn’t a fight, and no one was here to hurt him. It was a party. And Batman also always said to observe his surroundings, so Jason took a deep breath, and looked around.

He saw brown people, Black people, white people; all smiling, all cheering. He saw drag queens in glittering showgirl outfits and towering heels; he saw girls with buzz cuts and full sleeve tattoos. He saw people wearing shirts that said “THEY/THEM” and buttons that said “ZE” or “HIR.” He saw flags waving everywhere—not just the rainbow one, but ones with pink and blue stripes, or purple and green, or black and purple. And flags from around the world, too: Puerto Rican and Japanese and Nigerian and so many more.

There was a guy on roller skates wearing only a gold thong and holding a sign that said “LOVE IS LOVE.” There were girls in bikinis with their entire bodies painted rainbow, holding hands. There was Donna dancing, her long ponytail swishing back and forth and the sparkles on her cheeks catching the sun. There was Roy, shirt off as promised and stuffed halfway into his back pocket, waving the rainbow flag over their heads.

Jason realized he was smiling, smiling so hard his cheeks hurt. He couldn’t stop.

They stood there and cheered and danced and sang. Jason found himself caught up in it, waving and singing along to whatever was playing when he knew the words and even sometimes when he didn’t. He watched people of every gender kissing in ways that would have made him blush deeply anywhere else, but here it seemed not just permissible, but _right_. He was handed a flower by a boy in a crop top who didn’t look much older than him and _did_ blush deeply, but let Donna tuck the flower behind his ear anyway. She and Roy both smiled, but neither of them teased.

As the parade wound down to a trickle, they made their way to a tiny hole-in-the-wall pizzeria that was bursting at the seams with customers in sequins and rainbow tutus. Roy fought his way through the crowd and bought them all slices which they ate standing on the sidewalk, orange grease dripping onto their fingers and paper plates while Roy and Jason argued over the merits of New York pizza vs. Gotham pizza until Donna pointed out that Roy was from Arizona and Jason stopped listening to him entirely. Afterwards, Donna bought them all cones at a place called Big Gay Ice Cream, and Jason ordered something called a Salty Pimp, _almost_ without blushing this time.

They milled around downtown for the rest of the afternoon, just people-watching, with Roy and Donna pointing out some of their favorite restaurants and statues and stores. In one tiny park, someone with a full beard and an enormous ballgown was standing on a literal soap box and giving an impromptu queer history lesson on the area. Jason stood squished between Roy and Donna, their bare arms pressed to his, listening to stories of anger and resistance and finally finding a place to fit, and wondered.

*

The sun was setting by the time they made it back to the Titans barge, sinking below Manhattan’s skyscrapers and turning their glass and steel to flame. Donna put her head on Roy’s thigh and closed her eyes. Jason sat next to Roy, the rainbow flag draped over his shoulders, and found he couldn’t stop yawning, even though it was barely eight.

“Same,” Roy said after Jason yawned so hard his jaw cracked. “Too much sun.”

“Donna was right,” Jason said, poking Roy’s bicep. A stark white fingerprint stood out on his skin before fading. “You got burned.” He’d put his shirt back on at some point, but it hadn’t helped his shoulders or cheeks; his freckles were barely visible against the livid pink of the sunburn.

“Yeah,” Roy said, sounding unconcerned. “Looks like you’re on aloe duty, kid.”

 _Kid_ again. Jason frowned and kept pressing white spots into the curve of Roy’s bicep, feeling the strength of the muscle beneath the too-hot skin. Roy was joking, probably, but maybe Jason would say no if Roy _actually_ wanted him to rub aloe into his back, just to show him.

Maybe he’d say yes.

Roy didn’t seem to mind Jason touching him, which was kind of nice. Usually Jason only touched people when they were punching each other. 

“You have a good time?” Roy asked.

“Yeah,” Jason said. “It was...I don’t know. Not what I expected. I guess I didn’t know what to expect.” He’d thought _straight_ was one thing and _gay_ was another, but nothing today had had boundaries anywhere as clear as that. It was strangely liberating.

That was another word that had been on all the signs, actually. _Liberation._

Jason realized his hand was still on Roy’s arm, and quickly pulled it back. “Um, Roy?”

“Yeah?”

“How did you know you were bi?”

 _Stupid._ Stupid and babyish and _invasive_ , Roy was never going to let Jason hang out with him again if he kept asking boneheaded questions like that…

But Roy just shrugged, and didn’t look annoyed at all. “Eh, pretty easily. I thought a lot about kissing girls, and I thought a lot about kissing boys. And then when I got a bit older, I kissed a bunch of each just to make sure.” He gave Jason that sharky grin again, the one that made Jason’s stomach go all funny.

“Oh,” Jason said, and hoped his cheeks weren’t as red as they felt. Maybe Roy would think Jason was sunburned, too.

“It’s not that easy for everyone,” Roy said, and his tone was a little softer now, a little more serious. “Some people take a long time to figure it out. Some people identify as gay for a while, and then bi, and then back to gay. Some people never find a word that fits, and they’re fine with that. There’s no rules. Well, except for ‘don’t be an asshole.’”

“I definitely like girls,” Jason said, staring at his hands. “No question there. Big fan of girls.”

Roy smoothed a hand over Donna’s hair. “Girls are great,” he agreed.

Jason reached up and found the flower that boy had given him was still tucked behind his ear. It was wilted now, the stem warm and soft from his body heat. He thought about the way that boy had smiled at him, and all the different types of people he’d seen kissing today, and the strength in Roy’s arms.

He looked up at Roy. The eyeliner was smudged around his eyes, leaving them a smoky mess. His hat was perched at a ridiculous angle, and the glitter had migrated all over his face.

And he was smiling at Jason.

“You kissed a bunch of boys, huh?” Jason asked, and leaned in.

Roy stopped him before he could make contact with a gentle finger against his lips. “Hey,” he said, very softly. “Dick would kill me.”

Jason pulled back, mortified. He reached for anger instead. Anger was better than embarrassment any day. “Dick isn’t in charge of who I kiss. But I guess _you_ do whatever he tells you.”

Roy laughed a little, as if Jason needed the situation to get worse. “Hell, I’m barely on the team. I don’t listen to him unless I feel like it. But in this case, he’d be right.”

“So what you were saying was just bullshit? What happened to ‘there’s no rules?’” Jason asked, crossing his arms.

“Except ‘don’t be an asshole,’ and if I kissed you, I’d be breaking it,” Roy said. “You’re _fifteen_ , Jason.”

“You’re only three years older than me,” Jason pointed out.

“And three years from now, that won’t matter,” Roy said. “But right now it does.”

Jason glared in the direction of the rapidly approaching Titans Tower. He wanted to storm off, but there was nowhere to go. He fought the urge to wrap his arms around his knees instead, which would just make him look more like a little kid.

“Jay.” Roy put a hand between Jason’s shoulder blades, and Jason didn’t quite have the heart to shake him off. “I do like you. You’re wrong about pizza, but you’re funny, and you’re smart, and you’re cute as hell. Kiss some boys your own age if you wanna, and in a few years, if you still want to try kissing _me_ , just come find me.”

Jason chewed at the inside of his lip. He wanted to stay mad, but...Roy thought he was _cute_.

Crap. He definitely wasn’t straight.

“Eh, you’ll be an old man by then,” he said finally, and Roy laughed out loud.

“One foot in the grave,” he agreed, rubbing Jason’s back. It was a little patronizing, maybe, but mostly it just felt nice. “I’m really glad you came with us today, Jason.”

Jason looked up at Titans Tower, the moon rising over it, and thought about dancing in the street with thousands of people to songs he didn’t know. He thought about flags from around the world and people holding hands and stories of resistance. He thought about liberation.

“Yeah,” he said. “Me too.”

He still didn’t have all the answers, but he’d figure it out. He had time.

And a few years from now, he was definitely finding Roy Harper again.

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, I missed getting to write about real NYC locations! The pizza place is based on a real one called Joe's, and Big Gay Ice Cream is also absolutely real and the Salty Pimp is amazing. I doubt our heroes would actually be able to get through the crowd to eat at either one of them during the parade, but whatever. And Christopher Street is, of course, the location of the Stonewall Inn. Roy being from Arizona is a guess based on his post-Crisis Navajo upbringing.
> 
> Also, Jason does find Roy again. It takes him a while but it's in Qurac and they're married now.
> 
> [Come say hi on tumblr!](https://pluckyredhead.tumblr.com/)


End file.
